The outbreak of equine influenza (H3N8) in the United Kingdom in 1989: diagnostic use of an antigen capture ELISA

In July 1989 influenza A/equine-2 (H3N8) was isolated from a nasopharyngeal swab taken from a non-thoroughbred horse exhibiting acute clinical respiratory disease. This was the first isolation of equine influenza virus in the United Kingdom since 1981. Subsequent investigations of acute respiratory disease in horses indicated that the infection was dispersed throughout the UK. However, unlike the previous epidemic of 1979, the first horses from which the virus was isolated had been vaccinated. This outbreak of influenza provided an opportunity to evaluate an antigen capture ELISA, directed against the influenza virus nucleoprotein, as a rapid method for detecting virus in the nasopharyngeal secretions of naturally infected horses.     

Determination of PAHs in Combustion-Related Samples and in SRM 1597, Complex Mixture of PAHs from Coal Tar

Three types of combustion sample extracts, smokeless coal, smoky coal, and wood, were analyzed for a range of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles (PASH). Standard Reference Material (SRM) 1597, Complex Mixture of PAHs from Coal Tar, was also analyzed as a control sample and for the determination of a larger number of PAHs relative to those determined previously. Target analytes included many alkyl-substituted PAHs such as dimethylphenanthrenes, methylfluoranthenes, and methylpyrenes. The analytical methods included sample clean-up and the selection of specific stationary phases to accomplish unique separations of PAHs. Clean-up involved the use of normal-phase liquid chromatographic isolation of PAHs based on the number of aromatic carbons and a total PAH fraction, PAHs in the resulting fractions were separated by gas chromatography using two stationary phases with different selectivities and analyzed using mass spectrometry. These methods are discussed below and results are presented with an emphasis on the relative concentrations and distribution of PAHs in the combustion samples.     

Volatiles Retention in the Drying of Skin Forming Materials PART 3: Heat-Sensitive Materials

ABSTRACT

Ethanol retention in solutions was determined by drying single droplets in a horizontal wind tunnel, with gelatine (Bloom numbers 60 and 150) and gum arabic as encapaulants. The variation in ethanol content, droplet temperature history and crust structure were evaluated in each case. General conclusions are provided for parameters determining volatile- retention in convective drying.     

Modelling of a post-combustion carbon dioxide capture absorber using potassium carbonate solvent in Aspen Custom Modeller

The process models for an equilibrium CO₂ absorber and a rate based CO₂ absorber using potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃) solvents were developed in Aspen Custom Modeller (ACM) to remove CO₂ from a flue gas. The process model utilised the Electrolyte Non-Random Two Liquid (ENRTL) thermodynamic model and various packing correlations. The results from the ACM equilibrium model shows good agreement with an inbuilt Aspen Plus® model when using the same input conditions. By further introducing a Murphree efficiency which is related to mass transfer and packing hydraulics, the equilibrium model can validate the experimental results from a pilot plant within a deviation of 10%. A more rigorous rate based model included mass and energy flux across the interface and the enhancement effect resulting from chemical reactions. The rate based model was validated using experimental data from pilot plants and was shown to predict the results to within 10%. A parametric sensitivity analysis showed that inlet flue gas flowrate and K₂CO₃ concentration in the lean solvent has significant impact on CO₂ recovery. Although both models can provide reasonable predictions based on pilot plant results, the rate based model is more advanced as it can explain mass and heat transfer, transport phenomena and chemical reactions occurring inside the absorber without introducing an empirical Murphree efficiency.     

Radiochemical Decomposition of lactosyl-6-[3H]-ceramide

Galactosyl-6-[³H] glucosyl ceramide was prepared by the sequential action of galactose oxidase and sodium borohydride-[³H] reduction. A water-soluble radioactive contaiminant appeared after a 2 month storage at −4 C. This was identified as lactose-[³H] by both chromatographic and carrier dilution techniques.     

Characterization of hydrodynamic parameters in rotating disc and oldshue-rushton columns. Hydrodynamic modelling,drop size,hold-up and flooding

Flooding rates, dispersed phase hold-up, hold-up profile and drop-size distribution were investigated in rotating disc and Oldshue Rushton 0.10 m diameter, 18 compartment columns with toluene-water as the liquid-liquid system. The axial dispersed phase hold-up and the mean drop size in both contactors varied significantly with column height. The hold-up profiles were correlated by semi-theoretical models.     

Electron-Ion Transport in ZrO2-Y2O3-CeO2 Ceramics

Simultaneous conduction of oxide ions and electrons in solid ceramic systems provides the capability for oxygen transport under a concentration gradient without the need for an externally applied electric field. In the present study, ionic transference numbers have been measured in the ZrO₂-5.8%Y₂O₃-10%CeO₂ system by open circuit Emf measurements involving different metal/metal oxide electrodes. In order to correlate the ionic transference number with grain size, high-density ceramic discs of different grain sizes (50 nm–5 m) were prepared by sintering pressed powders at various temperatures and times. Hydrothermal synthesis was used to prepare nanocrystalline powders of the above material with uniform crystallite size (10 nm) and chemistry. Emf measurements on the samples suggested both ionic and electronic transport, the ionic transference number decreasing with increase in the grain size. This observation was attributed to an increase in the amount of continuous crystalline grain boundary phase in the ceramics as the grain size increased. The presence of crystalline silicate and zirconate phases in the grain boundary region was confirmed by electron microscopic imaging combined with microanalysis. In the large grain (5 m) ceramics, the ionic transference number decreased linearly with temperature. As the grain size decreased, a maximum occurred in the ionic transference number vs. temperature curve. This maximum became more pronounced at smaller grain sizes. Better grain-grain contact and the doping effect of trivalent Ce in the grain boundary core are proposed to explain this observation.     

2D-Shape Analysis Using Conformal Mapping

The study of 2D shapes and their similarities is a central problem in the field of vision. It arises in particular from the task of classifying and recognizing objects from their observed silhouette. Defining natural distances between 2D shapes creates a metric space of shapes, whose mathematical structure is inherently relevant to the classification task. One intriguing metric space comes from using conformal mappings of 2D shapes into each other, via the theory of Teichmüller spaces. In this space every simple closed curve in the plane (a “shape”) is represented by a ‘fingerprint’ which is a diffeomorphism of the unit circle to itself (a differentiable and invertible, periodic function). More precisely, every shape defines to a unique equivalence class of such diffeomorphisms up to right multiplication by a Möbius map. The fingerprint does not change if the shape is varied by translations and scaling and any such equivalence class comes from some shape. This coset space, equipped with the infinitesimal Weil-Petersson (WP) Riemannian norm is a metric space. In this space, the shortest path between each two shapes is unique, and is given by a geodesic connecting them. Their distance from each other is given by integrating the WP-norm along that geodesic. In this paper we concentrate on solving the “welding” problem of “sewing” together conformally the interior and exterior of the unit circle, glued on the unit circle by a given diffeomorphism, to obtain the unique 2D shape associated with this diffeomorphism. This will allow us to go back and forth between 2D shapes and their representing diffeomorphisms in this “space of shapes”. We then present an efficient method for computing the unique shortest path, the geodesic of shape morphing between each two end-point shapes. The group of diffeomorphisms of S¹ acts as a group of isometries on the space of shapes and we show how this can be used to define shape transformations, like for instance ‘adding a protruding limb’ to any shape.